


Acclimation

by Cephy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Episode: s01e10 The Doctor Dances, Flirting, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-01
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2017-10-12 09:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cephy/pseuds/Cephy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Given the choice between being blown up and venturing across the cosmos with Rose and the Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness makes the obvious decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A 'missing episode' kind of thing that begins directly after the end of The Doctor Dances and will, theoretically, extend all the way to the beginning of Boomtown. Because come on, you know they had to have some adventures in there.

The Doctor and Rose kept dancing even after the music changed; their movement was loose and easy and certainly not the most graceful thing that Jack had ever seen, but it looked like a lot of fun regardless. Or maybe as a result. The best kind of _dancing_ was the kind you made up as you went along, after all.

Jack stood and watched them, feeling a little giddy with anticipation. And okay, maybe some of that was the product of his relief after not being _blown up_. Just maybe. But he'd seen enough to know that whatever those two had going on, he wanted part of it. Gleeful anticipation was a perfectly natural reaction to the idea of traveling around the universe with two gorgeous people who were pretty good at handling themselves in a pinch, and didn't seem to hold any grudges over the whole con thing.

It'd been a long time since he'd had a partner, much less two.

The dancing broke up into laughter at last, before Jack could seriously consider cutting in. The Doctor went right over to his control panel. "Okay, where to now? I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for something a little more relaxing."

"Amen to that," Rose said. "No barrage balloons, no explosions and no strange, scary children whatsoever, please and thank you."

"Aha!" The Doctor crowed, punching some buttons. "How about the Poia Maranion Drifts?"

"I have no idea what that is," Rose said after a beat.

"It's a beach. An entire planet full of beaches. Fantastic dunes, especially the blue ones in the south. Most of it is entirely too touristy for my tastes, but I happen to have directions to a few of the more secluded islands."

Rose's face lit up. "Perfect!"

"Sounds good to me, too," Jack said, grinning, then glanced down at himself. "But I'm definitely not dressed for sunbathing. Don't suppose either of you have anything I could borrow?"

Rose arched her eyebrows. "Better be a bit more specific, there. What if I were to pull out a bikini, yeah?"

His grin sharpened. "Wouldn't be the first time, sweetheart," he purred. Her eyes went wide in surprise-- early earth types were so predictable-- but it was surprise with a good bit of interest mixed in, if he wasn't mistaken, and he usually wasn't when it came to those sorts of things.

"I think we can dig you up something a little more flattering than that." The Doctor gestured Jack to follow him as he made for the door.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I looked great," Jack protested dutifully. "At least that's what the owner of the bikini told me. We never did make it down to her pool, somehow--" But he followed the Doctor out of the room, anyway. Rose shook her head at him when he glanced back, but she was still smiling.

"Yeah, no worries, you two just run off. I'll find myself a change of clothes on my own, then. Still feeling a little twitchy in this shirt, can't imagine why," Jack heard her finish in a mutter as he turned the corner.

The Doctor led Jack down into the ship. It wasn't just bigger on the inside, it was _huge_ on the inside, and he was sure there was a cock joke waiting to happen in there somewhere. Jack figured he could get lost very easily without the Doctor to guide him-- and after they'd walked for a good five minutes without reaching their destination, he wasn't even too sure about that.

Eventually, though, the Doctor did stop and open a door, and Jack whistled when he saw the racks and shelves full of clothes that lay behind it. Jostled by the door, a pair of trousers started to slide off a shelf towards the ground; the Doctor caught them and tossed them at Jack.

Jack grinned. "If this is your way of telling me to take my pants off?" he said, and left it hanging.

The Doctor gave him a bemused look. "Find something you like and come back up, yeah? We'll probably be there before too long, assuming no one throws space junk our way and takes us on another detour."

Jack pouted as prettily as he could and ignored the verbal jab. "So, that's a no on the pants, then."

The Doctor laughed. "I've been around for over nine hundred years," he said with surprising gentleness. "I'm way too old for you."

"Really?" Jack blinked. "Well you look _fabulous_. And just so you know, I am completely not ageist. There was this one time, on Phraxalus III--"

The Doctor snorted. "Just get changed, Jack." And he left.

Jack stared after him, then laughed at himself a little ruefully and did as ordered. Thinking all the while, of course, about what the Doctor had said-- _nine hundred? Really?_ He must have been joking around, because though science had come a long way in Jack's day, it had yet to produce a species that looked human and could live that long.

Although, for some reason the word _Tardis_ did seem very familiar. He just couldn't quite place it--

He thought about it a while longer before shrugging it off for another day, diving into the wardrobe with an eager grin. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what he'd gotten himself into, but that had never stopped him before. If it lived up to its potential, it was bound to be a blast.


	2. Chapter 2

Some time later, Jack made the long trek back upstairs, dressed in his new duds. He had actually found a lovely sundress in the closet and been tempted for Rose's sake, but in the end he'd opted for something more conservative. Those twenty-first century humans, after all, they could be so quaint, and he didn't want to offend her delicate sensitivities. Not too much, anyway. Yet.

So instead he'd chosen something a bit thirtieth century neopunk-- very retro, all the rage, and definitely suited for the upcoming climate. If it happened to show off his shoulders and stomach rather nicely, that was just a bonus. It earned a faint blush and an appreciative look from Rose as he came back upstairs; disappointingly, the Doctor barely glanced at him, but he supposed he could work on that.

"Are we there yet?" he asked brightly.

"Almost," the Doctor said, concentrating on one of the displays. "In fact-- there," he went on, just as the ship settled with the faintest of _thumps_. "One tropical, sandy island," he announced grandly, "right this way."

They were right beside each other when they opened the door, smiling eagerly and jostling hips and shoulders. Jack himself was the one with his hand on the latch.

When he pulled, a gust of frigid air wafted in. Rose flinched back with a yelp; Jack's exposed skin immediately tried to shrivel. Not quite quickly enough, he slammed the door shut again. Shoulder to shoulder, they stood in silence for a moment and watched the lacy patterns of frost on the floor melt away.

"Did you get the wrong address _again_?" Rose eventually demanded.

"Oh, hang on to your sunblock," The Doctor said waspishly. He broke ranks and went back to his display panel, tapping a few buttons, squinting carefully at the screen before shaking his head. "No, we're definitely in the right place."

"Really."

"Yes, _really_ ," the Doctor shot back. "We're a few centuries off from _when_ I intended, but we're definitely in the right _place_."

"Oh, well, in that case," Jack said cheerfully, already mentally retracing the path down to the wardrobe-- he was pretty sure he'd seen some winter gear tucked into a back corner during his earlier perusal. "Anyone for a parka?"

A short time later, more appropriately dressed-- and with some mysterious additional protection placed over them by the Tardis, courtesy of the Doctor-- Jack braced himself and pulled the door open again. The instant curl of cold air didn't seem quite so bad as the first time, though it probably helped that he was expecting it. Tucking his scarf around his face a little tighter, Jack took point and stepped outside.

It was _really freaking cold_ beyond the shelter of the Tardis, only just bearable even with the added precautions. But there was no snow-- that was the first thing he really noticed. He'd expected the ground to crunch and creak under his boots, and instead he stepped down onto a bare slab of what looked a lot like wet sand but was as solid as stone. He tested it, bouncing up on to his toes, and it didn't budge. "Well," he said, voice muffled behind the scarf. "This definitely looks like a beach, but--"

"Jack," the Doctor murmured.

He turned, then turned again, following the Doctor's pointed gaze.

And stopped.

"Wow," Jack breathed, staring. To one side, Rose made a wordless little sound that probably meant she agreed.

If he really was standing on a beach, then before him must have been the ocean-- smooth swells of waves with white foam painting the tips, curling out away from the shore all the way to the horizon. It would have been nothing that Jack hadn't seen before, really, except for how all of them were frozen-- _literally_ frozen-- between one second and the next, stopped just an instant from breaking. The silence was deafening; Jack had to stop himself from holding his breath so as not to break it.

Jack looked back to the Doctor to find the man's head tipped back, squinting up at the muddy sky and the dim, red sun burning there. Jack waited, caught the Doctor's eye when he looked down again, and for a moment they just grinned at each other. The excited wonder on the Doctor's face was contagious.

"So what about the people here?" Rose asked eventually. "I mean, you don't think that they--"

"If they didn't have any warning? Yeah, maybe," the Doc said quietly. "Tell you what, let's have a look."

Back in the Tardis, the Doctor pulled over his screen and tapped out a search sequence, within minutes pulling up a history of the world. "Total solar collapse," the Doctor read off, his voice both sad and wondering. "Suspected the result of illegal solar harvesting-- oh, really now, I thought they'd learned their lesson about that." He shook his head. "There were some warnings sent out, by private interest groups at first but then by the government as well. A lot of folks thought they were just fear-mongering, though, and the tourism industry never did shut down." He gave Rose a sympathetic look. "Some did die when the sun went, yeah. At least it would have been quick."

"Those poor people," Rose said.

"They chose their own fate," Jack says pragmatically. "Not that I don't feel bad for them, but they were warned, right? You take your chances and sometimes they don't pay off."

Jack saw the Doctor nodding quietly, but Rose was frowning in a way he didn't like. He cleared his throat. "Right, so. Suppose we should move on? I somehow don't think we'll be doing much swimming here, after all."

Thankfully, Rose's frown faded as she scoffed a laugh. "No, not likely. How 'bout we just warm up first, yeah? My feet are like ice, even in these boots. You got hot cocoa in your kitchen?" she added to the Doctor, who nodded absently, fiddling with an entirely different set of controls and muttering something about calibrating for ice ages.

"Good idea, I'll help." Jack followed her through an entirely different set of corridors, following a route she was obviously familiar with. Compared to the wardrobe, the galley was a tiny box of a room, which said a lot about the Doctor's priorities. Jack and Rose were forced to dance around the counters and each other as they searched for the necessary items-- water, kettle, three ridiculously colourful ceramic mugs. Jack couldn't help but wonder who had brought them onboard, because no matter what kind of eccentricities the Doctor had, they still didn't seem his style.

The dance was awkward at first but then, at least on Jack's part, filled with a kind of steady anticipation. Jack finally cornered Rose, fitting his hands around her waist as she reached up onto a tall shelf. "Need a hand?" he said lightly, letting his fingers rest just above her belt, just touching. She was warm, despite their earlier adventure-- that was always one of his favourite parts of being with someone, being close enough to share their warmth.

Rose grinned over her shoulder at him as she grabbed the tin of cocoa down from the shelf, wicked and delighted and-- nervous. She was nervous, and when he pressed a testing thumb against the muscles of her back, they were tense.

Twenty-first century girl, Jack reminded himself ruefully; he probably should have expected as much. He eased off, letting her go once she was steady on her feet again, and noted the muted relief that she probably wasn't even aware of. Inwardly, he shrugged, then went to turn off the kettle just as it started to whistle.

Something else he could work on. The old saying was that nothing good came easy, right? And while that wasn't necessarily Jack's experience-- some of his fondest memories were from nights when he'd come _very_ easily-- it didn't mean that he couldn't appreciate the slow approach just as much.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with a bonus cameo appearance, because I couldn't help myself.

"Now this is more like it," Jack said approvingly. Above them, the glassed-in towers didn't quite block out the darkened sky, and the hum of the hovercars could only just be heard over the rumble of the crowds. There was a blue-skinned woman with four arms walking towards them from one side, and a massive shape of fur and horns from the other, and from the writing on the billboards Jack thought they must have been a minimum of three solar systems and a dozen centuries away from the London Blitz.

"Reminds me of my first assignment with the Agency. Dernath?" Jack guessed.

"Close. Brockfar," the Doctor corrected, and when Jack's mind caught up with that his eyes went wide.

"Are we--?" He looked again, trying to poinpoint the clothing, the tech. Watching the way the laughing crowds flowed around each other and into each other and back again. "Doctor," he began again, slowly, his mouth stretching into an anticipatory grin. "Have you brought us to the Brockfar System during the anti-prohibition?"

"Just the beginning of it, yeah," the Doctor answered breezily.

"Oh, Doctor," Jack purred. "You do know how to show a guy a good time."

Just walking the city streets was an experience and a half, and the press of lights and sounds and scents was nearly overwhelming. The Doctor kept up a steady stream of talk with Rose, reeling off facts about the System and the anti-prohibition itself. Which was exactly what the label advertised, really-- for nearly a hundred years, the Brockfari had enjoyed near-complete indulgent freedom. _Near_ , because things like murder and serious injury were still generally frowned on, though as with anything you could get around that if you knew where to look. Outside of those very vague boundaries, though-- anything went.

Jack got groped three times while walking, and propositioned eleven times, and eyed up more times than he could count. The Doctor noticed, of course, and flashed him an amused smile. "Don't go wandering off, now," he warned, complete with wagging finger.

"Yes, sir," Jack said lightly, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, Jack, we're just here for a drink and a meal and a quick sit-down. If you get stuck in a week-long drugged orgy with the natives, we will leave you behind."

Jack heaved a theatrical sigh. "And here I thought you were explorers. What good is visiting a new place if you don't sample all of the local customs?" But the Doctor was serious, Jack knew, which really was a terrible shame. He'd lost a month the last time he visited, and it was the most pleasant hole in his memory he'd ever caused. But Rose was looking around with a dazzled smile and an innocent air that was already drawing eyes, despite the Doctor hovering protectively at her shoulder, so Jack resigned himself to just appreciating the view this time around.

They reached the Doctor's goal a few blocks away-- a chic, mirror-fronted club that had a waiting line stretching out the door and around the far corner. The Doctor just walked right up to the front of the line, though, and flashed his psychic paper to the very large, muscular lady at the door. They were immediately ushered inside to a cushy private booth on the top level.  
   
Inside was all lights and music and gleaming metal, the center of the club given over to an antigrav dance floor. There were a few professionals out there, hired by the club to bounce around and look pretty, but also quite a few patrons having fun with each other in the open air. He wouldn't be surprised if there was another, more private dance floor somewhere else in the building; zero-gravity sex was challenging, but there was always someone willing to give it a try.

Their section of the club was decked out in a retro theme, complete with a brass-railed bar and leather stools, vintage photographs on the walls, and a waitress in a mini-skirt who asked them if they wanted menus. The Doctor declined, listing off a sequence of dishes by memory.

"You've been here before," Jack accused once the waitress had gone.

"Maybe a few times. What can I say, I love the appetizers."

"Well, if you've got the food, then I've got the drinks. No, I insist," Jack added when the Doctor arched an eyebrow. He pushed out of the booth and navigated the tangle of tables to the bar, bringing back a round of pale green cocktails in tall glasses a few moments later. "This," he said for Rose's benefit, "is a Phosphor Moonset. Be sure you wait for it to stop bubbling before you drink it."

"What," Rose said eagerly, "will it turn me green or something if I don't?"

"No, but it'll give you the worst case of hiccups that you've ever had in your life." Jack paused, then nodded. "There we go. Bottoms up."

"Cheers," Rose said, and the Doctor echoed.

The food was as excellent as promised-- in true anti-prohibition style, the kitchens had spared nothing in their food prep, leaving each bite full of spice and flavour and texture. Jack let himself just sit back and enjoy, listening absently to the Doctor and Rose's conversation while he looked around, met some eyes, sniffed the pheromones. He went back to the bar for refills several times, enjoying a few drinks off the menu that he hadn't actually tried before-- that was definitely one of the joys of travelling the universe, and one he hadn't yet got tired of. Different planets and cultures were invariably creative with their alcohol.

At one point, he noticed a woman staring determinedly in their direction from the bar. Mostly at the Doctor, really, but hey, it was worth a shot. And surely the Doctor couldn't expect him to behave the _entire_ time. The next time he went up to get their drinks, he wandered her way first. "Hi. Captain Jack Harkness."

He waited, while she seemed to consider her answer. "River," she eventually said.

"Lovely name. Buy you a drink?"

The woman gave him a Mona Lisa smile and looked him up and down once, her eyebrow quirking. Jack preened. But then she shook her head a little, the smile growing genuinely amused. "I'm a married woman, Captain," she said smoothly. "You should save your currency for someone a little more available."

With that, she went back to studying the Doctor with a bemused little expression, though she glanced back at Jack when he sighed theatrically and collected their refills. "Perhaps another time," he said gallantly.

She gave a throaty little chuckle. "Be seeing you," she said as he turned away, and he blinked, his steps faltering for a moment. Her words had sounded-- well. The way she said it, it was like the way the Doctor would have: less a formality and more of a promise.

When he glanced back again a few minutes later, she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

When they finally left the club it was with arms slung over each other's shoulders and occasional outbursts into song, because damned if it wasn't a nice night and great company. Jack's instincts were telling him that he probably _wasn't_ going to get laid when they got back to the Tardis, and yet he was still somehow having the time of his life. He had to wonder what these people were doing to him.

The Doc was stumbling a little on every other step-- who knew that such an impressive guy could be such a lightweight? Although that last round had been harsh, even by Jack's standards. The house special, Brock's Revenge-- three measures of Tri-Sol Concentrated Vodka over ice with something orange that he'd hadn't been able to figure out, and which no amount of bribes had identified for him. It'd stung his throat as he drank it, and he honestly thought he could still feel it rolling around in his gut as they keyed open the door to the Tardis, the better part of an hour later.

The Doc peeled himself away, swayed a path to the controls and flicked a switch when he got there. "There we are, then," he said as the Tardis churned to life. "Back off to the stars."

"Where are we going this time?" Jack asked cheerfully.

The Doctor looked at him, blinking, then looked down at the controls. The Tardis' engines ground on. "I have no idea," he eventually admitted.

The three of them held silence for a long moment, then burst into laughter that lasted until after the faint tremor in the floor told them they'd landed.

They managed not to run into each other in the rush for the door; they cracked it and peered out warily. The world they'd arrived on seemed pleasant enough, at first glance-- the air was warm, smelling of salt and faint spice. There were green plants, and blue sky, and hints of buildings in the distance, which all boded well for the planet being habitable.

"Suppose we could try for that beach again?" Rose offered.

Jack cracked his knuckles. "Beach recon, check. Let's go exploring."

After a brief consideration, Jack dug into his pocket for the sobriety pills he'd snagged on their way out of the club. "What?" he said to the Doctor's raised eyebrow. "It's probably not the best plan to go out onto an unknown alien world while still occasionally having fits of the giggles."

As if to prove his point, Rose glanced back and forth between them and started giggling. She clapped both hands over her mouth, but that didn't help her stop.

"Right. Here." He handed her a pill and a bottle of water, then swallowed his own dry. He grimaced at the taste, and braced himself-- there was a moment like a cold shower and an extra strong cup of coffee all in the space of a heartbeat, and then his head was clear again.

He saw Rose shudder a few seconds later, her eyes going wide. "Oh," she said, no trace of laughter left. "That's got to be handy, I guess."

Jack shrugged. "When you create a culture that consumes vast quantities of alcohol-- among other things-- it's logical that you also come up with a way to recover quickly if necessary."

Jack didn't see the Doctor take his pill. But when the Doctor moved to the exit his steps were steady and he had that firmly-in-control air that had drawn Jack from the start. Jack watched him narrowly, struck by the notion that the big faker had been pretending the entire time, but he eventually just shook his head and let it go.

Following the sound of surf, they did find beaches beyond the Tardis' doors. They also found a quaint little seaside town with wooden docks and grass roofs mixed among neon signs and stainless steel. It had all the signs of being a thriving waterfront tourist community-- except for the fact that there were no tourists. There was smoke coming from some of the chimneys, and a few figures moving on one of the fishing boats tied up at the pier, and the signs in the windows were turned hopefully to "open". But the sound of gulls was the only thing Jack heard, and when they pushed through the door of a shop the man behind the counter looked up in a hopeful shock that would have been amusing if it wasn't so pathetic.

"Welcome!" the man enthused after a moment's stunned silence. "Some lovely souvenirs here, please, have a look. Half price!"

"Thanks," the Doctor with a carefully cheerful grin, picking something off the nearest shelf and tossing it from hand to hand. Rose wandered over to the far wall and fingered a few of the things there-- out of guilt from the shopkeeper's puppy-eyes, Jack hoped, because the little statue she kept coming back to was _ugly_.

"Anything I can help you find?" the shopkeeper pushed on, apparently unable to keep quiet-- definitely desperate. "If it's local artefacts you're looking for--"

"Actually, we're mostly looking for information," the Doctor cut in smoothly. "What's happened here? Where is everyone?"

The man's face fell. "Figures," he muttered. "You wouldn't be here if you knew." He gave them a suddenly crafty look. "Tell you what, buy something and I'll tell you about it."

"Let me guess," Jack said dryly, "the more expensive the item we buy, the more detail we get?" He shook his head at the shark-grin directed his way, and stepped up to the counter. There was a necklace under glass, something involving shells and a dark polished stone. He'd seen nicer but it was pretty enough, and he could picture it around Rose's slender neck. It was certainly better than anything else in the place, at least.

Jack pointed; the shopkeeper practically beamed as he whisked the necklace out of its case and into a little box. Jack tipped his wrist over the counter, keying his wristband to transfer the appropriate funds. The universal time and space currently converter-- essential for the Time Agent on the go.

He caught the Doctor giving the wristband a sour look, but was quickly distracted as the shopkeeper leaned back in his chair and started talking. It was quite the story: a sudden collapse of the local fish stocks; massive clouds of stinking orange foam washing up on all the beaches, driving away the swimmers; people getting sick from going in the water or drinking it without boiling first. And the _piece de resistance_ , increasing rumours of dreadful sea monsters, spotted in deeper waters by the few fishing boats that still ventured out.

"People stopped coming to the beaches entirely a few weeks ago," the man finished mournfully. "At that point, most of the locals who could leave, did. Those of us who are left just have nowhere else to go. Other than the pub, of course."

Rose sighed heavily when they got back outside. "No swimming this time either, then," she said, trying for a light tone and only partly succeeding.

The Doctor, of course, led them directly to the nearest pier. "All of this happening in a matter of weeks," he said thoughtfully, staring at a small clump of orange slime caught around one of the supports. "I suppose it _could_ be some natural sickness."

"That produces giant sea monsters," Jack replied dryly. "Yes, of course."

"Could be hallucinations," the Doctor shot back. "Maybe there are no monsters, maybe the people who go out too far just think there are."

"Yeah, like you actually believe that," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Since when does a story about a monster ever turn out to be just a story, around you?"

The Doctor appeared to consider that a moment, then grinned. "True."

"So?" Rose went on. "What do we do?"

The Doctor turned his attention back out to sea. "Well, there's obviously something in the water, be it Nessie's cousin or something else entirely. First logical step is to find out what, then we can go from there."

Jack flipped open his wristband again, tapping a few of the buttons to set a scan pattern over the water near the shore. The Doc made a scoffing sound from behind him. "What?" Jack said defensively.

"I can't believe you want to trust that thing. It's crude," the Doc accused. " _Tacky_."

"Oh, and your blinking blue box isn't?"

"Boys, boys," Rose broke in. "Problem at hand, please? Pissing contests later."

The Doctor grumbled to himself but seemed to drop the subject; Jack just went back to work. He spent a few minutes refining the search parameters, trying to get a larger range, but when the scan finished he had to shake his head in frustration. "I keep getting a hint of something, but I can't seem to get a fix on it."

"There's a surprise."

Jack shot the Doctor a withering glare. "The signal is distorted," he went on sharply. "Maybe from the water, or distance, or-- something, I don't know."

"Let's go back to the Tardis, then," the Doctor said, smug. "I have some _real_ equipment there that will probably sort things out."

Jack rolled his eyes.

It was his turn to be smug, though, when the Doctor's fancy scanners didn't even pick up the faint traces his wristband had. "Well, your little toy there probably has a glitch," the Doctor dutifully protested. "There's probably nothing out there at all."

"Uh-hunh, right. Move aside." Jack stepped up to the console, skimming over the readouts, then stooped to look at the wiring that led from the screen to the Tardis' main hub. He was about to crouch down and reach for the panel release catch when he felt a hard hand on his shoulder.

He looked up to see the Doctor looming over him, and became very aware of where his hand was-- about to reach into the guts of the Tardis, right in front of the Doctor's overprotective eyes. Jack wondered if he was about to lose his space-and-time travelling privileges-- or his head.

"I did the mods on my wristband myself, you know," he said quietly. "The factory settings walked me right into an ambush without any warning, so I did a little tweaking. I'm pretty sure I can increase the sensitivity of your scanners, too-- or if it turns out I can't, I won't touch anything at all. Trust me," he added firmly.

The Doctor's hand was slow to slide away, but it did. He hovered the entire time that Jack was poking through the wires, and fussed like an old man when Jack finally started to make some modifications, his eyes all wide and kind of alarmed. It figured that the Tardis would bring out all of those overblown protective instincts the Doctor seemed to have, but Jack could certainly see why-- she was an impressive ship, and the Doctor's home and transport all rolled up into one. Jack would be protective of her too, in the Doctor's shoes.

When Jack finished, the Doctor pushed him out of the way and went over his work with a sharp eye, hands occasionally hovering over the new wiring but not quite touching. The Doctor turned to Jack, looking stern-- and then his face split into one of those wide, boyish grins. "Not bad, actually. Good job, Jack."

Jack preened. "Oh, I have all kinds of unexplored talents. Maybe you'd like to help me explore some of them?" he added, because he could.

"You've seen me navigate," the Doctor shot back instantly. "I'd get lost."

Jack waggled his eyebrows. "That could be fun too."

"Business first," the Doctor chided easily, turning back to the newly-upgraded scanner. "Would you care to do the honours?"

"Oh, would I." Jack stepped up to the Doctor's side, keying in a few sequences and seeing how the new system would respond, then setting up a search pattern very similar to the one he'd tried on the docks. Results started to come back almost instantly, and the three of them crowded around the screen to see.

"That's why the signal was distorted," Jack exclaimed after a moment. "It's not just one thing, it's-- millions of them, _billions_. My wristband just didn't have fine enough sensors to narrow it down."

"Microscopic particles," the Doctor added. He twirled a knob, and frowned. "Organic, possibly living, but-- origins apparently native to this planet. Guess it's natural causes after all," he said, sounding rather disappointed.

"So why has this never happened before, then?" Jack shook his head, folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not convinced."

"Would it help to get a sample of the water?" Rose asked. "Could take a closer look at it."

The Doctor snapped his fingers, pointing at Rose. "Good thinking. You and Jack go grab us a sample, I'll set us up for a little science experiment."

"Yes, sir," Jack said wryly, but he caught the jar that the Doctor tossed him and moved to the door nonetheless. It was only a few minutes' walk back to the pier, where Jack bent down and carefully dipped out a sample of water, making sure not to get any on his fingers. As an afterthought, he scraped up a bit of the floating orange scum as well.

They had wiped off the jar and sealed it up and were just starting back toward the Tardis when Jack's instincts suddenly blared to life. It was only long practice that let him keep a steady pace at Rose's side while he strained his senses into the space around them, though he did let himself step in a few paces closer to her, just in case. As they stepped off the wooden pier and back onto solid land, he thought he saw a flicker of motion, something or someone ducking quickly out of sight. When he dared a direct look, a few seconds later, there was of course nothing there.

It was probably nothing-- some local come to have a good long gawk at the tourists too dumb to know about their troubles. But Jack still didn't let his guard down until the Tardis' doors closed behind them.

The Doctor had managed, in the time they were gone, to rig up something like a high school science lab gone horribly wrong. There was some kind of elaborate filtering mechanism, coils and coils of tubing attached to a spout; there was a microscope that looked like it could have been used when Rose's grandparents were young. Jack and Rose handed over the sample and backed away slowly, letting the Doctor have at it.

"All right," the Doctor said after a while. "Here's part of that slime you picked up." He brought up on the nearest screen a magnified image of some tiny, yellowish creature, looking alien for all that it apparently wasn't. "And here," the Doctor went on, "is the rest of it." He switched the image to another, a reddish blob covered with protrusions like long hairs. "The first is common in these parts, it's what forms the basis of the ocean food chain. The other, though, is apparently a strain of bacteria that is supposedly only found in deep fissures on the ocean's floor. Except that it's now everywhere-- that water sample was full of it. Which is a problem, since part of what lets them live in those deep ocean fissures is the fact that they metabolize the rather difficult and nasty mess of chemicals found there, and said chemicals are actually toxic to most of the rest of the life in the ocean."

The Doctor dove back to his screen, pulling up page after page of text before stopping with an exclamation. "Those sea monsters our little extortionist friend mentioned? I will bet you anything of your choice that they are actually these." He tapped the screen, which had been left showing a large creature that looked half-turtle and half-whale, with a massively elongated tail and two thick feelers trailing off its chin.

Jack gave a low whistle. "No bet."

"They're native to this planet, typically living too far offshore to be seen. But I'll bet with the contamination of their food sources they're being driven inland in search of dinner." The Doctor shook his head. "The entire ocean's food chain is collapsing, and this--" He held up the little test tube of water. "This is responsible."

"So who's responsible for it?" Rose asked.

The Doctor grinned at them. "Good question. Let's find out."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, does anyone remember this fic?
> 
> ...yeah, didn't think so, since it's apparently somehow been four and a half years since I updated it. Er. Whoops?
> 
> tldr: writer's block sucks.

"Jack? Jack, please wake up."

Under normal circumstances, that would have been Jack's cue to roll over with a ready grin and a _what, round two already?_ on his lips, but for some reason the blinding headache thumping through his temples was getting in the way. So instead he winced his eyes open and groaned. "Ow."

"Oh, thank god."

Devout relief. Headache. A bed that was much harder than any bed should be-- because it was the floor, actually, and not a bed at all. Add those together and, yeah, _there_ it was, all coming back to him. Heading back to the shore to get more samples (the Doctor was so cute when he got all sciencey, Jack wasn't about to deny him), getting jumped before they were even within sight of the beach-- and he hadn't even noticed them this time, not before there was a hand over his face and the sickly-sweet smell of some drug up his nose. That was going to be hell on his ego.

He squinted towards the vague, blonde shape sitting over him. "Rose? You all right?"

"Yeah." 

"Good. Where are we?"

"Not a clue."

"Not so good. Where's the Doctor?"

"Again, not a clue."

"Really not so good." Jack grimaced, and took a deep breath before slowly sitting up. His head wobbled a little, but stayed on his shoulders; he figured that was about as good as he could expect just then. "For the record, my guess? It's either a money-grubbing human or unscrupulous alien behind it all. It always is."

"Cynic," Rose accused, but it sounded more like instinct than genuine criticism.

Their cell was a depressing stereotype, all grey walls and heavy, metal grates. There was an elaborate series of drains on the floor, which didn't exactly fill Jack with confidence; given that they were on a water world, they were probably completely innocent, but given their current predicament it was far to easy to imagine their more gruesome uses.

Jack eyed the door, but decided against trying to stand just yet. "How long have we been in here?"

Rose shrugged uncomfortably. "I've been awake for maybe twenty minutes? Hard to say. Don't know how long before that, obviously." She gestured at the door. "I heard someone outside at one point, they paused at the door but they didn't come in."

"Hunh. Waiting for both of us to be awake, maybe?"

Rose shrugged again. "Guess we'll find out."

By some unspoken agreement, they shuffled their way over to the wall opposite the door, sitting there with their backs braced against the cold surface and their shoulders brushing. It wasn't too long before Jack's splitting headache started to fade, leaving behind just a tight feeling behind his eyes and the worst case of dry mouth he'd ever had in his life. And considering some of the hangovers he'd experienced, that was saying something.

Despite their vague expectations, no one came to their cell-- to threaten, or gloat, or anything else that Jack figured good villains were supposed to do. In a way, it was disappointing. It was definitely boring, which excused Jack for actually feeling a bit _relieved_ when the sounds of metal clanging, voices shouting, and feet pounding a too-quick rhythm started up not too far away.

And that's when the water started to come up through the grates in the floor.

"Oh," Jack breathed, staring. "I knew those couldn't be anything good."

Before those first sharp moments of panic had even started to fade, an alarm sounded, and both of them clapped their hands to their ears as the lights dimmed, strengthened-- and the door popped open.

Frozen in the process of scrambling to their feet, they stared, with water already lapping at their ankles. Then Jack laughed, too loud even in his own ears but he wasn't sure he cared. "You think--"

"Of course it was him," Rose said sharply. "Come _on_."

They ran, although the tunnels and hallways filled alarmingly fast, water running down the walls, and once they were thigh-deep it wasn't quite a run anymore. More like desperate thrashing, kicking up a spray that left them soaked from head to toe. They finally spotted a ladder, and scrambled up to find more ladders and scaffolding around some kind of machinery-- the entire place was starting to look less like a prison and more like an oil platform, a submarine, or some weird combination of the two. 

It was really only a matter of time before they rounded a corner and nearly slammed right into the Doctor-- his appearance just felt inevitable. Jack had very rarely been so glad to see anyone, and funnily enough on those other rare occasions it was also because that person was saving his life.

"There you are," the Doctor said, exasperated like they'd gotten lost on the way back from the shops rather than getting abducted by who-know-what and then halfway drowned. "Hurry up, I don't think we want to go swimming this far down."

"This far down?" Rose echoed. "Where are we?"

"Undersea drilling platform," the Doctor answered cheerfully. "About three kilometers below the ocean's surface. I think we're actually inside one of those volcanic vents, isn't that brilliant?"

" _Three kilometers_?"

"Don't worry, it's all reinforced. Very good engineering, this. You might say it's _out of this world_."

"They why is it _leaking?_ And why do I think that maybe you had something to do with that?"

"I may have used the sonic screwdriver to open an emergency valve or two, which-- okay, yeah, we could drown if they don't get it under control, but I'm sure they've got technicians for this sort of thing, and it got you away from them, didn't it? It worked!"

"Oh my god," Rose said.

"Just keep running, okay?" Jack said. "We'll deal with not drowning if it becomes an issue."

The Doctor gave him a sunny smile. "Good plan."

"So," Jack said breathlessly, as they ran. "Aliens, then?"

"Caught that, did you?"

Jack only huffed a little laugh in response, shooting Rose a look over his shoulder. "Told you."

"Yeah, yeah."

When the alarms cut off, the sound of their own laboured breathing and pounding footsteps suddenly seemed deafening. "See?" the Doctor wheezed. "Told you they could handle it."

"Right," Jack gasped back at him. "So now they've got nothing else to do except come after us."

"Yes, but we've got a head start, don't we?"

"To where?" Rose said plaintively. "Where are we going?"

"Control room, of course."

"Right, and you know where that is?"

"Mostly."

Rose looked at Jack; Jack looked at Rose. As one, they rolled their eyes. "Mostly," Rose echoed.

"Yep. Come on, hop to it. We should be almost there."

Jack huffed out a laugh and stretched his legs a little faster. "Yes, _sir_."

"Oi, none of that."

"Of course not, _sir_." Jack was grinning, though, grinning like he would never stop, despite the danger and the fact that he was pretty sure none of them had a clue what they were going to do next. Somehow-- it kind of felt like it didn't matter. They were together, the three of them, and together they were _invincible_.

The Doctor's particular brand of luck worked out for them again, as the detour they had to take to avoid a noisy group of guards led them right to the room they were looking for. The three mostly-human figures huddled together over the central console startled up when they burst in, and Jack used that momentary, surprised delay to bound over to them and knock away the gun on the adjacent table before they could grab for it.

"Right, then," the Doctor said cheerfully, giving the three strangers that deceptively boyish smile he had, "which one's the off switch?"


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of it was, in Jack's opinion, depressingly routine and a little bit anticlimactic. The three aliens-in-charge blustered and postured and threatened; the Doctor kept _smiling_ at them even while he threatened them in return. The only bright part of it was when one of the three puffed up a little more and made like they might be going for something on the console-- that was when the Doctor got serious, just for a minute. And as always, the way he so easily went from bumbling, big-eared goof to barely-leashed, dangerous intensity made Jack's trousers feel a little tight.

The aliens backed down. Their drills got shut off, and all of the pumps that had been shunting bits of ash and grit and wastewater out into the larger ocean coughed to a halt.

It didn't do anything for all of the sea life that had already died, of course, and it didn't magically bring back everything that had already been pumped out into the ocean. The Doctor gave a resigned look over the equipment on the rig, but ended up just shaking his head. "I'm good," he said, "but even I can't make something that'll filter an entire ocean, not the way we need it to." He sighed heavily. "We'll have to hope that either it hasn't spread very far, that it'll settle out or something, and that the life will re-colonize the area on its own. There's an entire world of water out there, some of it has got to still be clean."

"We could leave the information and one of our samples with the locals, though, couldn't we?" Jack offered quietly. "They might be able to organize some sort of clean-up on their own. It would give the people around here jobs again, at least. And-- hope."

The Doctor looked at him, eyebrows raised-- then smiled a wide, approving smile that made Jack warm down to his toes. "Good idea."

They sent the info anonymously to the local authorities from the Tardis, and somehow all found themselves on the beach again before they left, standing well back out of range of the waves. The sun was just beginning to sink over the horizon, staining the water in various fiery tones before the clouds got caught up in it and lit the entire sky orange.

The Doctor drew in a sharp breath, drawing Jack's attention. Rose's, too, from the questioning hum she gave as she turned around. "Doctor?" she asked, frowning up at his face. "What is it?"

The Doctor was still staring out over the waves, wearing the oddest look on his face. It certainly wasn't a smile, though he probably intended it to come out that way. There was something sharp in his eyes and something tired in the angle of his shoulders. "Just reminded me a bit of home for a minute, is all." He gave himself a shake and met Rose's look with a better smile than his previous. "Gallifrey's skies were a darker orange than this, of course, more evenly toned. But-- this is still close. Closer than I've seen in a while."

_Gallifrey_. The word was like lightning across Jack's skin, as all the little bits and pieces in his mind loosely labeled 'Doctor'-- all of the clues to the mystery he hadn't even consciously been aware he was working on-- came together in a flash. It was so _obvious_ at that moment that he nearly kicked himself for being thick, but, well, honestly, how could anyone blame him for not connecting those particular dots? Gallifrey was a myth, and its people just a rumour. Yet there was his Doctor with that name on his lips, riding around in his Tardis--

No. T.A.R.D.I.S. Not a word, but an acronym.

_Time Lord_.

His mind went utterly blank for a moment, as the reality of it sank in. When the others turned away, Jack followed numbly behind.

Thankfully, the worst of the shock was starting to wear off by the time they made it back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. and Rose made her excuses, heading off to her own room to rest from their admittedly exhausting day. Jack was feeling the effects of it, himself, but he lingered behind, started absentmindedly dismantling the scanners that he'd rigged while the Doctor pressed buttons on his console seemingly at random.

Jack cleared his throat awkwardly. Trying for casual, he said, "Time Lord, hunh?" and waited for a reaction.

The Doctor's shoulders stiffened, but he didn't turn and didn't deny it.

"Man," Jack breathed. "You guys are legendary at the Time Agency, you know. We only wish we were you. I thought-- well." He cut himself off with a little cough, realizing that saying _I thought you guys were extinct, if you ever existed at all_ might be a bit tactless.

"I'm the last," the Doctor said quietly, still not looking at him. "So we may as well be just a legend."

Jack thought about asking any of the thousands of questions in his head, but in the end he bit his tongue instead. "I'm sorry," is all he said, and it earned him an actual direct glance and a slanted smile, so obviously it was the right choice.

"Old history," The Doctor said with a heartiness that only sounded a little forced. "Not worth talking about, eh? How about helping me find another vacation spot-- for an actual vacation this time."

"I don't know, from what I've seen you'd be better off aiming for someplace in trouble," Jack replied, letting the Doctor guide the conversation. "Since things never seem to turn out the way you plan, maybe then we'd actually get a break."

The Doctor blinked at him, then grinned. "Not a bad idea!" He spun a wheel, possibly the parking brake or maybe just there for fun, and pulled up a display monitor, peering at it intently. "There's a nice big supernova building in the Ta'ani'ali Nebula. We could always dive into the centre and try to get blown up?"

Jack grinned. "Sounds perfect."

"You adrenaline junkie, you."

"You know me, I love a challenge." Jack gave a leer for good measure, to make sure the Doctor didn't miss the entendre. It earned him that warm look again, the one that he hadn't quite decided whether it meant what he thought it might.

_What the hell_ , he thought; _when in doubt, go for the direct approach_. "So are you all talk, or is there some actual interest here?" he asked, and was given a direct stare and an arched eyebrow for his efforts. No words, though, so he pushed on. "Look, Doc, I'm just gonna put this out there. If you wanted me bent over the driver's seat, all you'd have to do is say the word. Or gesture," he went on, spreading his arms. "Or give me a significant glance, I'm very good at interpreting those. Not too good with telepathy, if that's your thing, but I'm willing to give anything a try at least once."

He mostly expected the tolerant, fond look he got, even if he had maybe hoped for something different. "I already told you, I'm too old for you. Grab that lever, would you?" the Doctor said, pointing. "The blinking one. Two clicks left, one right, then hit it right on the end with that hammer."

Jack sighed, then had to laugh-- at himself, at the situation, at the Doctor's continual inability to _answer a damned question_. Oh, he'd definitely been turned down, no uncertainty there, but there was a difference between the _no_ that said _convince me_ and the one that said _not a chance_ , and Jack still couldn't quite tell which one this was.

He took one more longing look, just because he could. Rose was pretty and affectionate, and soft in all the right places, and a lot of fun to flirt with even if she hadn't quite made up her mind yet whether she meant it, but there was something about the Doctor that could in fact be hazardous to his heart. Maybe it was the understated aura of power and danger-- Jack had always liked a little danger, more than he should. Or the way he managed to be so damned charming even with those ears sticking out of the sides of his head.

With a shrug and a soft smile, Jack moved to the console and did what he was told. It really was just his luck to end up traveling the cosmos with two gorgeous, competent people and yet sleep with neither of them. But if this was as good as he was going to get, well, he'd still take it. It was better than what he had before. 

Something, even if it's not quite the something you wanted, was always better than nothing at all.

Still smiling, Jack picked up the hammer and used it as instructed. The T.A.R.D.I.S groaned, the Doctor whooped, and Jack laughed as they went spinning off once more through space and time.


End file.
